


too much or not at all

by ohmcgee



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 03:48:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7997482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmcgee/pseuds/ohmcgee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"I just figured someone should let you know," Harvey says, rolling his sleeves down when he sees Bruce staring. "No one really likes you."</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	too much or not at all

"Whoa," Harvey says when he walks into Bruce's room _without_ knocking, Bruce notes. "You catch the name of the twister that came through here?"  
  
It takes Bruce a moment to get the joke, but then he gets up and grabs a few of his clothes off the floor, scowling as he shoves them under his bed.   
  
"Not used to cleaning up after yourself, huh?" Harvey smirks and picks up one of the books on Bruce's side table, flipping through it without actually looking at any of the pages. He's rolling some kind of hard candy back and forth between his cheeks and the noise it makes clacking against his teeth is driving Bruce insane.   
  
"Did you need something or did you just barge into my room to insult me?" Bruce asks as calmly as he can manage, taking his book out of Harvey's hands and sitting back down on his bed. He thought Harvey was different than the rest. He'd though --  
  
"Actually," Harvey says, sitting down next to him. His trousers are a bit lighter than Bruce's, faded from not being cleaned properly, and his sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, little circular scars on his forearms. "I just figured someone should let you know," he says, rolling his sleeves down when he sees Bruce staring. "No one really likes you."  
  
Bruce makes a noise in his throat that is supposed to sound dismissive, but Harvey just laughs.   
  
"Yeah, didn't figured you cared," he says, standing up.   
  
Bruce waits until he gets all the way to the door before he says, "Harvey," and Harvey pauses, turns around and looks back at him. "It's not. I like some people. I just haven't met anyone here worth my time."  
  
Harvey raises his eyebrow and laughs at him. "You've got balls for a scrawny rich fucker."  
  
"Oh," Bruce says, frowning once he realizes what he's said. "I didn't -- you're okay."  
  
Harvey laughs again and Bruce hates it and loves it all at once. He wants to learn to laugh like that. He wants to have a reason to.   
  
"Well, you're kind of an asshole," Harvey says, but he walks over to Bruce's window and props it open, pulls a cigarette out of his jacket and lights it. "But you're right. Everyone else here sucks."  
  
"I once read," Bruce says, watching the way Harvey flicks his lighter back and forth, over and over. "That it's easier to make friends by bonding over things you both dislike instead of common interests."  
  
"Well," Harvey says, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and grinning. "I guess that makes us friends."  
  
"I guess so," Bruce says, smiling a little when Harvey looks away.


End file.
